"What people and places bring you alive?"

In the talks by David Whyte (such as Wild Mind, Clear Heart--which I practically know by heart), he often asks, "What people and places bring you alive?"

When I travel, that question resonates in my mind: Does this place bring me alive? Or is this a place that's not a good fit for who I am? 

Places have personalities.  Sometimes, however, that personality--like a person--takes a while to get to know.  This is not the same San Antonio I first met in 1967, and I'm not the same person who met her.  But there's a core soul of this city and its surrounding smaller towns that feels like home.  Even her faults--steaming summers and droughts--can be overlooked; it has a vitality that brings me to life.

Within this sprawling city, there are  pockets of people who are like-minded enough to bring ourselves and each other alive.  Such pockets exist all over the world, in all kinds of cities, but this one happens to be the one I landed in.

If I were to move, I might pick Vermont or Oregon--but for the web of people who make this dot on the map what it is.

Since I'm not going to move, I'm thinking about doing what my friend Bonnie does: renting a house for a month or two in Vermont.  Maybe next year, or the next.